


Rumors on the Web and Secrets

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-03-03
Updated: 2004-03-03
Packaged: 2019-05-30 23:06:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15106664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: CJ deals with a story on the web that upsets her.





	Rumors on the Web and Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Rumors on the Web and Secrets

**Rumors on the Web and Secrets**

**by:** soft lite

**Character(s):** Josh, Carol, Danny, and CJ  
**Pairing(s):** CJ/Danny  
**Category(s):** Romance   
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** Characters from "The West Wing" are not mine.  
**Summary:** CJ deals with a story on the web that upsets her.  
**Spoiler:** Season 5 through "The Benign Prerogative"  


This is a hell of a President's Day, CJ mused as she broke another pencil. And it's barely begun. 

Throwing the pencil across the room, CJ stood and began pacing around her office, arms crossed over her chest. At times like this, her office seemed far too small. CJ longed for more room to pace, but already felt more exposed to the bullpen than she wanted to be. It would only be a matter of time before someone noticed and came to rub salt into her wounds. Not that they'd mean to. 

The weekend had started remarkably well. Friday the thirteenth had gone astonishingly smoothly, and the President, First Lady, and Chief of Staff had actually left only an hour and a half behind schedule. The world seemed unusually quiet, and CJ had been able to spend fair amounts of time away from the White House on Saturday and Sunday. Valentine's Day had been pleasant enough, considering CJ wasn't seeing anyone. Quiet and peaceful was fine with CJ, since Danny was, for the moment, out of the question. Sunday had been similarly slow and restful. CJ had gone to bed early Sunday night, which might be why she woke at 4 a.m. Monday. 

CJ sighed and flung herself into her desk chair. For what seemed like the thousandth time, CJ clicked through the tabs to see the web-published story and full-screen images that had made this the worst day she could remember. 

At last, the dreaded moment arrived. 

At 7:17 a.m., Josh entered CJ's office, closed the door, and sat in a chair close to the desk, "CJ, there's a -" 

"Web story. I know, Josh. I saw it at about 4:20 this morning," CJ cut him off and turned her computer monitor so Josh could see she was looking. 

Josh looked stunned, "You don't need to torture yourself, staring at the pictures." 

"Should I bury my head in the sand instead?" CJ asked icily. "I'm going to be asked about it - you know I am. Give me another hour or two and then I'll need to practice answering the questions. Probably many times." 

Josh stood, opened the door, and started to leave the office, but turned in the doorway, "Maybe you should call him." 

"And say what?" CJ asked bitterly, also standing up. 

Carol pushed past Josh and approached CJ, "Why didn't you call me?!?" Tears were evident on Carol's face, and CJ returned the hug that Carol seemed to sorely need. As they held each other, CJ wondered whether she could find strength in this embrace or if it would end in her breakdown. "Have you talked to him yet?" Carol asked as she pulled away. 

"To say: 'Congratulations on your engagement, Danny, and thanks for letting me and the whole world find out on the World Wide Web?'" CJ shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair, "I can't talk to him now. I just can't." 

No sooner had CJ made this declaration than Danny came rushing through the bullpen towards her office. "CJ, Josh, Carol, it's not what it looks like!" 

CJ simply sat down and began shuffling papers on her desk, aware that Danny could clearly see the pictures on her monitor. Carol fumbled through her purse as more tears appeared on her cheeks, and Danny handed her his handkerchief. When Josh realized CJ had no intention of saying anything, he offered, "Gee Danny, that's hard to believe because there are pictures of you and this gorgeous woman hugging, kissing, and admiring a big diamond ring on her left hand, all at a romantic late-night dinner." 

"Well, okay, all that is true," Danny sounded embarrassed and quietly closed the door. He could see CJ glaring at her desk as Carol blew her nose and Josh snorted. "But she's my sister." Josh's jaw dropped, Carol looked hopeful, and CJ let the papers slide from her fingers as she finally looked up at Danny. "The guy she's been dating for the past 3 years proposed Valentine's Day evening, so Sunday she drove across the state to tell our folks, and then she flew out here to tell me. I swear I had no idea someone had photographed us, and as soon as I saw that story on the web this morning, I came over here. She feels just awful about it, too." 

CJ finally found her voice as she stood up, "You are not engaged?" 

"CJ, if I were engaged, it would be a highly secret engagement, cause the last time I checked, you didn't feel you could even kiss or date me. I just assumed engagement was out of the question." As Danny said these words, all eyes turned to CJ, and everyone realized that the possibility had never occurred to her. 

"A highly secret engagement?" CJ sounded confused. "But we still couldn't kiss or date." 

"I know," Danny admitted, apparently picking up on the hint of interest in her voice, "but it would be a promise of our future. A secret we would treasure." After a pause during which he saw she was listening with focus, he added, "I think I could bear to sit in the same room with you and hear you talk every day if I knew that three years from now we would be married." Danny held his breath as he watched CJ. 

After a moment of silence, CJ frowned, and Danny's shoulders drooped as his eyes first fell to the floor and then closed. In a voice so hushed it could hardly be heard, "I wish my dad could be at our wedding." 

Danny's head snapped up, "CJ, he could. I'd happily marry you anywhere." 

CJ shook her head as she looked at the phone on her desk, "I've talked with the doctor at least once a week since Christmas. He says he doesn't want to put a 'timestamp' on it, but he does think this was Dad's last Christmas." With a heavy sigh, CJ fell back into her chair. "I'm sorry. I don't like to burden anyone with stuff about my dad." Finally looking up into Danny's eyes, "I do want to marry you, and I do like the idea of a highly secret engagement. It just may be a while before I can derive much comfort from it." 

"Does that mean we are highly secretly engaged?" 

For the first time in a long time, CJ's face broke into a wide smile, a smile that just barely managed to reach her eyes, more of a smile than she had mustered in a year, "Yes." 


End file.
